President Obama addressed the nation on the Gulf crisis. We look at the speech and American priorities with top thinkers.

President Barack Obama after delivering a televised address from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, June 15, 2010. (AP)

It wasn’t Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office this time, talking about the Challenger disaster. Or Bill Clinton on the economy. Or George W. Bush on 9/11.

It was President Barack Obama, in the familiar setting, talking about an environmental catastrophe that he put in terms of assault and war.

On the 57th day of the Gulf oil spill, in the first Oval Office address of his presidency, Obama was speaking to the immediate, enormous challenge in the Gulf, and to the country’s long-term energy future.

This Hour, On Point: leadership and the nation in the Gulf oil crisis.